Nuclear Power
There appear to be some tentative signs of a US nuclear renaissance against a backdrop of growing grid instability as coal and gas power stations are pushed out of the market in favour of wind and solar. In my previous two blogs on the [...]
I have written a paper for the Global Warming Policy Foundation ("GWPF") outlining the prospects for nuclear power in GB. The draft paper is now out for an open review process on the GWPF website here: https://www.thegwpf.org/open-peer-review-prospects-for-nuclear-generation-in-great-britain/ In writing this paper, I have set [...]
On 30 March, the French Parliament published a report entitled “D’enquête visant à établir les raisons de la perte de souveraineté et d’indépendance énergétique de la France” or “Inquiry aimed at establishing the reasons for the loss of sovereignty and energy independence of France”. [...]
Last week came the welcome news that EDF will extend the lives of its Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear reactors by a further two years to March 2026. The company had hinted at a possible extension back in September but the subsequent inclusion of [...]
Yesterday the new Chancellor. Jeremy Hunt, issued a new Budget for the UK in his Autumn Statement, reversing most of the policies in the Truss/Kwarteng Growth Plan. The Statement heralds significant tax increases for just about everyone, with several announcements relating to the energy [...]
This week EDF updated its expectations for its nuclear fleet for this winter, downgrading its output forecasts to 275-285 TWh, compared to the previous estimate of 280-300 TWh. The main driver of the downgraded forecasts is a refusal by the French nuclear regulator, Autorité [...]
Nuclear power may be on the verge of a global renaissance just over a decade after the Fukushima disaster placed its future in doubt. The global shortage of gas in the face of the Ukraine war, with western buyers shunning Russia and Putin weaponising [...]
EDF's nuclear worries continue In an update this week the came as a shock to exactly nobody, EDF announced a further cost over-run and delay at it's new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C. When the project was first mooted in 2007, EDF claimed [...]
As Europe focuses on a gas market crisis that began with a covid-related supply and demand imbalance that has now been significantly magnified by the consequences of the illegal war in Ukraine, a smaller crisis in the French electricity market has attracted much less [...]
Yesterday EDF announced a further delay to the schedule for its troubled flagship European Pressurised Water Reactor (“EPR”) at Flamanville: fuelling is now expected to start at the end of Q2 next year, delayed from late 2022. The project costs are also forecast to [...]